Infinite Campus, a Student information System

The Independent School District of Boise has recently adopted Infinite Campus as its district-wide student information management system. Infinite Campus offers integrated, real-time management of student information, from a single web interface. Authorized users (such as teachers or administrators) can access the system without waiting for uploads or data synchronization. Parents and students can view grades, assignments, attendance data, and much more, by simply logging into the web interface (the "Portal"). The Infinite Campus Portal provides the means to further promote educational excellence by enhancing the district's policy of communication with parents and students. The service also allows for access to class schedules, assignments, attendance, discipline, course registrations for next year, report cards and transcripts.

Additional features/services include:

• Grading Insights for Student Success. Campus Grade Book gives teachers secure Internet access to all grading tasks, and when published by the teacher, grades are immediately available to students, their guardians, counselors and school administrators.
• Individual Learning Plans
• Lesson Planning
• Mobile Device Support.

I am very excited about enhancing the lines of communication between the teacher (me), my students, and their parents. Not only can parents and students get immediate, timely, up-to-date access to vital student information, they can participate in an immediate dialogue with the teachers (myself included). We no longer need to wait for conferences, and I no longer need to send out "backpack" announcements. I especially like the concept of using the service to enhance curricular areas, like developing lesson plans, or integrating Individual Learning Plans. This information system can help parents to become an integral part of their childrens' ongoing educational process.

Additional information can be found at the Infinite Campus website, here:

http://www.infinitecampus.com/

Or, you can view a video prepared by Infinite campus:

http://www.infinitecampus.com/pages/product_menu/district-edition/see-it-work.php

The Campus Portal is free, and available to students and parents of the Independent School District of Boise. Use this link to view the portal:

https://campus.boiseschools.org/campus/portal/boise.jsp

This link provides additional information, as well as videos demonstrating features of the service, and a how-to video for accessing the Parent Portal:

http://www.mmsd.org/topics/ic/entry_public.shtml

The video below includes the review of a Kentucky school district's experience with Infinite Campus.

Spreadsheets

Spreadsheet programs, like Microsoft Excell or Google's Spreadsheet Document , can provide powerful and engaging curricular applications. Teachers like Kathryn Pischl, a fourth grade teacher from Kuna, Idaho, are using spreadsheet models to aid students in improving their problem-solving skills. A teacher-created Excell spreadsheet was used to integrate a lesson involving data on volcanoes (gathered from bookmarked websites) with math problems. The students listed volcano names, heights, state located, and dates of eruption. Working in small groups, they entered this data into the spreadsheet and used it to create a graph. The graph then was used to compare the heights of the volcanoes, develop questions and story problems, and then to judge the conclusions against expert information. One little spreadsheet, with a single inclusive graph, allowed Ms Pishl's fourth graders to analyze the volcano data, synthesize new problems from it, and then evaluate their conclusions. She reports that the activity aroused a great deal of excitement and motivation for the lesson - it was a resounding success, a result that was reinforced by her students' above-average performance on the assessment for this content.

I believe that this method would apply to any grade level. For secondary students, I would use a similar question to explore, but in greater detail and complexity. We could further analyze the physical characteristics of volcanoes, compare and contrast them by type, or possibly develop models to predict eruptions. And, of course, I will happily use the model to explore similar questions in Biology, such as collecting information on Food Webs. We could gather data on types of food webs, characterize individual organisms as to their role/niche within the web, generate graphs so as to compare relationships, develop questions and problems to further explore the lesson, then evaluate our conclusions with real-world data. The exercise could then culminate in a group presentation and/or a written report summarizing the project. This model can thus be used to build and improve the learner's knowledge of (and skills with ) data entry, and (as with Ms Pishl's students) can then be used to analyze the data, apply it to create new applications (like story problems) and then to judge the utility of the conclusions drawn from the lesson. Additionally, computer and software-savvy students could improve their skills with the software itself, by generating charts, graphs, and pivot tables. The possibilities are virtually limitless!

Strategy Game

I found a game that biology students will like - Plankton! It features some key concepts: predation, ecological relationships. The game also incorporates strategy and spatial skills. It's a little goofy, and a lot of fun. Have at it!

Netiquette Rules

I am presenting here a list of rules and guidelines for internet use by secondary (high school) computer users.


Use the following guidelines when:
Blogging, Chatting, Posting to Forums, Social Networking, and Email

· Apply the Golden Rule – Treat others as you want to be treated yourself.

· Try not to leave the “caps lock” key on, as using all capitals is considered to be SHOUTING!

· Remember that words alone can’t convey emotion – use emoticons, or verbally let someone know if you are making a joke, or need to express another emotion. Don’t let misunderstandings start a flame war! PS: Emoticons look like this: : ), or : ( , or ; ) (smile, frown, wink).

· Be responsible when online: Never give out sensitive personal information (like passwords, telephone number, home address, etc) when online, either via postings or email. This information can be misused by anyone who can view it online.

· Exercise extreme caution when downloading internet files, as they can contain dangerous “malware,” (viruses, spyware, etc). Only download files with the teachers permission (here at school) or with your parents’ permission at home.

· When gathering and using information collected online, make sure to show your sources. Using another’s work without citing and giving proper referencing is plagiarism!

SouthardBiology on You Tube

Ivory Soap Floats

Great Communicators

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.

Characteristics of a Good Presentation

I like these presentations because they use space in a balanced way, the colors promote calmness, without being boring, and they have great information. The text material is clear, and is not busy, and each slide incorporates just the right amount of information. The blocks of information are succinct, and are easy to view and remember.

Additionally, they are somewhat creative (more than the average science presentation). As a person with a background in science, it is difficult to find really creative presentations. The last slide show, on academic integrity, actually demonstrate a much more creative use of the software. My goal, in preparing a presentation, will be to try and incorporate good technical complexity with a nice degree of creativity.
Dna Replication

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.

Dna Extraction Principles

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: dna extraction)

Academic Integrity

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: 2.0 cheating)

Jigsaw: A Cooperative Learning Method

The Jigsaw Method (http://www.jigsaw.org/overview.htm ) is a popular and successful cooperative learning technique. Students are organized into 5 or 6 small groups, each consisting of 5 members. (The teacher/facilitator divides the lesson into the 5 subcategories.) Each member of the groups is responsible for learning (and reporting back to the group) one aspect of a topic or lesson. These team members are then "expert" in that subcategory. Prior to reporting their subject, the experts get together to brainstorm, discuss (and contribute to each other's efforts) and then return to the "home" groups to deliver their (now expert) reports. One member of each group is appointed as the leader (the most mature of the group).

In a classroom with a five-station computer setup, each computer station would be set up with software and files containing the necessary information. Expert team members would take turns accessing the appropriate workstation, with some time allowed for Internet searching to round out the information. Once the research phase is complete, the experts come together in their respective subcategory groups to discuss and exchange information. Then, the home groups reconvene to allow the expert team members to report their results. Learning assessments (in the form of quizzes) would ensure motivation to participate.

Jigsawing allows all of the group members to contribute to the successful learning of a lesson. In fact, if all members do not contribute, none of them will get the full effect. The technique also encourages and rewards noncompetitive, cooperative behavior. Group members come to identify with, and depend on, one another. Interactions between the experts allows for cross-group relationships to form. The entire process brings the disparate individuals in the class together, and helps them to form improved interrelationships. Both learning objectives and classroom environment are enhanced.

Since each team member's contribution is important to the outcome for all, the method depends on careful team selection and monitoring (at least, in the early stages of group formation). To stave off boredom (for those students gifted with shorter learning curves), the teacher would need to encourage a "teaching" outlook. I.e., the more gifted students would gain a great deal from helping out students not so able to learn quickly, thus aiding all of the groups. A real disadvantage to this method might lie in the time involved in research (not enough computers to keep everyone busy). Perhaps some means of cooperation among the expert group members might be developed to expedite the process? Additionally, competitive individuals (especially if they are new to cooperative strategies) may not be comfortable with this method. At any rate, this active, interactive learning method ensures a satisfying learning experience for most participants, and makes for a useful one for the all.

Google For Educators

Our good friends at Google have come up with some seriously useful education application tools in their ever-expanding collection of Google Apps. If you have a gmail account, you can access and/or download a variety of Education-oriented tools and applications for the low, low price of nada. For example, there is Picasa, a free software download that enables both teacher and students to find, edit and share pictures on PCs. It also offers the Web Albums feature, which enables you to easily upload photos from your computer to the web for sharing with others. Biology students can use Picasa and Picasa Web Albums to supplement their research and presentations, producing more professional and powerful term papers and lab reports.

iGoogle is a toolset that allows teachers and students to collect useful content from across the web and experience it all in one place. A teacher (or one of her more tech-savvy students) can design a specialised "gadget" in iGoogle as a class assignment, or for extra credit. These gadgets feature any number of customized items and place them on a page that's specific to all of the desired interests.

Google docs is a feature that allows shared file modification. Using Google docs, a teacher can share the editing of grant proposals with other grant writers, can grade students papers, and can provide editing and advice to student's written projects.

Any one, or all of these applications can be used to simplify your life, and expand your creativity as a teacher. And couldn't we all use some of that?